There is mounting consensus that funders should align their investments with national and/or jurisdictional research priorities, however, this presupposes that such priorities exist and are ‘just’. Although literature on what constitutes just research priority-setting is lacking, scholars have proposed equity-oriented research priority-setting models. A common element in these models is for the involvement of the ‘worst-off’ groups in deliberative processes to achieve fair or just priority-setting. Incarcerated people have some of the worst health outcomes of any population group across all health domains. Following this, it is important to involve incarcerated people in health research priority-setting and vital to involve them in justice health research priority-setting. Input from different affected communities is now a routine part of designing and conducting health and medical research in the community, yet there is a lack of evidence showing incarcerated people being consulted. As part of the ‘Health Research Involving Prisoners Project’, we explored the use of a deliberative approach in a carceral setting to contribute to equitable health research priority-setting. The presentation focuses on the findings and challenges of conducting Citizens’ Juries with incarcerated people in six prisons in Australia.

About Dr Paul Simpson

Dr Paul Simpson, Research Fellow, Justice Health Research Program at the School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, and the Australian Centre for Research Excellence in Offender Health. Paul's research activities centre on health and marginalisation of people at risk of, or in, contact with the criminal justice system. He has conducted 12 deliberative forums with diverse stakeholders including, the public, incarcerated people, prisoner health service directors, research ethics committee chairs, and more recently - as part of a NSW premier’s priority project – government, consumer and NGO representatives tasked with defining an optimal model of care for people leaving prison with psychosis.